Groom Getting Ready Wedding Pictures

When it comes to planning your wedding day timeline, nothing works better than working backward.

Let me explain: It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the advice out there! I totally understand! So here’s a way to think about documenting the groom, and then some tips for simplifying some of the decision making.

1. Remember to look forward into your life. What images do you want your children or grandchildren to have on their wall? Or in an album in their home? As we get older, we begin to value documenting our lives more. So thinking for your future self will help you make decisions for your current self.

2. What will make your wedding album feel complete and balanced? Typically, if we only schedule time for the Bride getting ready, then the album feels much more weighted on the bride’s side at the expense of featuring the groom as well. This runs the risk of communicating — inadvertently — that the wedding is much more about the bride than about the relationship.

3. Giving proportional attention to both the bride and groom will speak to the bond you two share. His attention to detail, his preparation represented by pictures communicates that he is preparing for more than a wedding. He’s preparing for a life-long marriage. Showing this with images is powerful.

4. We recommend finding 30 minutes on your wedding day to devote just to the groom: his preparation, his details, and a handful of portraits.

5. Communicate: Tell all the groomsmen ahead of time what time to be fully ready, on location, and what’s expected of them photographically. As soon as they know it’s really important to the Bride, the Groom, and their families, they’ll go out of your way to do whatever you want from them! But it’s best to communicate as early as possible (sometimes months in advance). Just in case people are booking flights, rental cars, hotels, etc. you’ll want to be thoughtful and give them as much time as possible to plan.

6. And finally, taking the time to document the groom interacting with his groomsmen. These relationships are cherished, and often are the groom’s best friends and family. Taking the time to get candids and portraits is important. Years down the road when life tends to take us down different career paths, different states, and making our own new families, these pictures will remind the two of you of the people who stood by your side and supported you. Setting aside about 15 minutes just for groomsmen candids and portraits will make all the difference in the feel of your final album.

And, then, of course, now that all this has been done, we get to spend some time with just the bride and groom. Finding 30 minutes (or 1 hour if this is important to you!) for bride and groom portraits will complete your album and lend a sense of completeness. Plus, these will be images you go back to, year after year, and remember your wedding day.